Chapter 7 — The Abyssal King Returns

At U Minh Thiên Cung, deep in Huyền Khương Palace, which has now changed hands, Cố Thanh Vũ sat on a high chair next to the empty throne, flipping through a chapter that had just been presented, his face cold and emotionless. Seven years in power as Regent turned him from a Right Prime Minister who cleverly hid himself into an authoritarian ruler. Although he did not dare to sit on the throne due to lack of royal blood, the actual power was completely in his hands.

Not many people in the court still remember clearly, nearly forty years ago, Cố Thanh Vũ was a scholar from a small, lowly tribe in the border region, without an inch of royal blood. It took more than twenty years of honing his strategies and offering countless strategies to pacify the chaos to get the position of Right Prime Minister. But no matter how great his merits were, he was still just a person standing under the dragon's pedestal, looking at the royal princes who naturally sit on high places just because of their bloodline, some who had never even gone to war had been awarded titles, while his plan, once successfully implemented, the merits were always recorded in history books under the name of the Venerable Master himself or the royal generals who lead the army. He still clearly remembered that rainy night last year, kneeling all three hours in front of the palace, asking to be granted the title of Marquis for putting down the rebellion in the North, only to receive a cold sentence from the previous emperor: "Your last name is Co, not Nhiếp, the Marquis is reserved for those who carry the country with their blood, not with the strategies of their subordinates." He swallowed that sentence and kept it hidden for more than thirty years, until it fermented into a cold and unshakable ambition: if bloodline was the only thing that determined who was worthy to sit on the throne, he would find a way to completely erase that bloodline, so that his strategy, his strategy alone, would be the only thing left that would determine the fate of an entire world.

"Lord Regent." A trusted subordinate knelt below the steps, his voice urgent. "Photo Ve has just detected a strange aura of magical power appearing in a remote area of the human world, on the night of the last Black Moon Eclipse. That aura... has a strange similarity to the aura of the Venerable Master in the past."

Cố Thanh Vũ paused, his eyes immediately became as sharp as knives. For the past seven years, he has always had a vague fear in his heart that there was something wrong with Bách Uyên's death on the border in the past, that the body found after that battle was so burned that its identity could not be confirmed with certainty. He relied on rumors of that death to gain legitimacy and power, but in his heart, he was never completely at peace.

"Where does that residual energy come from?" He asked, his voice low and dangerous.

"A small country named Lam Vũ Quốc, located on the remote border of the human world, near a small town named Vân Khê." The subordinate replied. "Ảnh Vệ has sent someone to investigate further, but because the residual energy is too thin, it will take time to determine the exact location."

"If the old Venerable Master is really still alive..." Cố Thanh Vũ muttered, his fingers gripping the arm of the chair so tightly that his joints turned white. Seven years of painstakingly building power and manipulating the government could all collapse in the blink of an eye if Bách Uyên returned, bringing with him his daughter who should have died long ago according to his calculations.

He remembered the fateful night seven years ago, when he secretly installed the U Minh Tuyệt Mệnh Khế contract on the newborn baby, and at the same time poisoned Điền Nguyệt Hinh so that no one would detect any traces of evil magic. His plan was perfect - the child would gradually die with each cycle of the Black Moon Eclipse, Bách Uyên's bloodline would end, and then, as the court's most glorious minister, he could legitimately seize power in the name of regent until he found a "worthy" successor - which of course, would be him, after gradually eliminating all those still loyal to the old lineage.

He did not expect that Bách Uyên would choose a path that no Supreme Lord in the history of the Underworld had ever dared to think of: personally giving up the Seal of Heaven's Mandate, taking his children to escape the world, and accepting to live as a miserable mortal in the human world just to slow down the speed of the contract. That disrupted his entire plan, forcing him to create a fake death for Bách Uyên to cover up that mysterious disappearance, then waited for seven long years to be sure that the contract had finally completed its mission.

"Give orders to Ảnh Vệ." Cố Thanh Vũ stood up, his cold voice echoed throughout the main hall. "Send the most elite team, led by Hắc Diệu, to immediately descend to the human world to find the exact location of that residual magical power. If the old Venerable and that daughter are still alive, they must be completely eliminated, leaving no trace behind. If this matter is revealed to the court, I am afraid that the old gods loyal to the old lineage will be motivated to rebel."

"Subordinates obey." The subordinate bowed and retreated to give orders.

In the darkness of a side corridor leading out of the main hall, a figure dressed in jet black stood, without a sound, listening to the entire conversation from beginning to end. That was Hắc Diệu, the leader of Ảnh Vệ, who had just received direct orders but was already present to listen to the situation according to his habit of professional prudence.

Hắc Diệu is not an absolute loyalist to Cố Thanh Vũ, he is simply an employee of the highest power at present, a professional assassin who considers completing his mission his only honor. But as soon as he heard the true identity of the target this time - not an ordinary rebel but the former Lord of an entire world - a mixture of curiosity and caution arose in his heart.

"A Supreme Lord who once made thousands of people kneel and worship, now lives in hiding like a coward in the human world," Hắc Diệu muttered to himself as he left the palace, his cold eyes hidden under the black mask. "Interesting. Looks like this mission won't be as trivial as the previous ones."

That very night, a Shadow Guard team consisting of eight of the most elite people, led by Hắc Diệu, quietly opened a secret spirit gate, crossing the boundary between Netherworld and the human world, landing in a remote forest not far from Lam Vũ Quốc. From there, they began their hunt in the dark, searching for every trace of remaining magical power, gradually narrowing the search scope towards Vân Khê Trấn.

Meanwhile, in another hidden corner of U Minh Thiên Cung, far from the main hall, a middle-aged female mandarin was diligently rearranging old scrolls in the royal archives, her face full of anxiety when she heard the news about the residual magic power she had just detected, which was passed on to each other through trusted palace maids. Diệp Uyên Thanh, who was in charge of the archives during Bách Uyên's time in office, has been quietly keeping a shocking secret for many years that she accidentally discovered right before the night Điền Nguyệt Hinh passed away.

She saw Cố Thanh Vũ secretly leave the royal concubine's delivery room on that fateful night, with an unusual expression on his face that she had never seen on the Right Prime Minister, who always kept a calm expression. At that time, she did not dare to think too much, until the news of the princess's sudden death spread, and then the mysterious disappearance of the Lord and the little princess, did she gradually put the pieces together and realized a scary truth that she did not dare to say for fear of implicating her life.

Seven long years have passed, Diệp Uyên Thanh still lives in torment of conscience, secretly keeping a copy of Điền Nguyệt Hinh's diary that she accidentally got before Cố Thanh Vũ ordered someone to seal all the royal concubine's remains, along with a few of her own notes about what she witnessed that night. She knew that if one day the Venerable Master was truly alive and returned, these documents would be the key evidence to overthrow the man who had plundered the entire court.

Hearing the news about residual magical power, Diệp Uyên Thanh's heart throbbed with a hope that she did not dare to reveal. If that was truly a sign that the Lord was still alive, she knew she had to find a way to contact her, find a way to bring the evidence she had stored to someone who could use them to expose the truth, before Cố Thanh Vũ's Shadow Guard could destroy the last hope of the true royal family.

She quietly took out from the bottom of an old wooden chest hidden under the floor, where those precious documents had been kept since then, and checked one last time to make sure they were still intact. That night, under the flickering light of an oil lamp, Diệp Uyên Thanh began planning the most adventurous trip of her life - finding a way to the human world, before the entire Shadow Guard team was actively searching, to find the old Venerable Master before it was too late.

In the remote border camp, where Chu Bách Thành was imprisoned for many years in the name of a small official in charge of the food warehouse, news of residual magical power also spread to his ears through a network of loyal former gods that he had quietly built up over the years. The old general, whose hair was gray but whose eyes still retained the sharpness of someone who had experienced hundreds of battles, stood silently in front of the old map hanging in the tent, his hands shaking with emotion.

"Your Majesty... are you really still alive?" He whispered to himself, his voice choked. After all these years, he still silently believed in the old promise, quietly raised loyal soldiers, waiting for the day when the lord would return to restore justice to the court. But the more time passes, the more that belief has to face the silently gnawing doubts.

Now, when the news of the residual magical power similar to the Lord's aura spread, the fire of hope in his heart flared up stronger than ever. He immediately summoned several of his most trusted deputy generals, those who had silently endured the strict supervision of Cố Thanh Vũ's faction for so long, to discuss ways to contact, support, or at least find out more information without alarming the court.

"If Shadow Guard has sent someone to the human world, we cannot sit still," Chu Bách Thành said, his voice was sharp and full of determination. "Even if there are only a few loyal soldiers left, I must find a way to send someone down there first, at least to warn your Majesty, if you are really alive."

The race between good and evil, between loyalty and treacherous ambition, has officially begun, and in the midst of that impending storm, Bách Uyên and the people he loves in Vân Khê Trấn are still living in their last peaceful days without even knowing it.